http://oneroastvegetable.com/blog/

One of the exercises I have students in my business class do, is to  make a list of the characteristics of their perfect clients.

For example, here’s a sample from my list of Perfect Client Attributes.   My perfect client: Sends lots of emails, gives me feedback/suggestions, lets me know when their credit card is about to expire, lets me know when they’re going to be in Paris so we can go for WINE.

(This is my list; your list may be different!)

So tonight, I want to tell you about a few of MY perfect clients. Just for inspiration. May you have some just like these

Nancy.
She emails often. She asks for new classes, she tells me WHY she needs to learn things. She tells me specifically WHAT she’s learned. She responds to emails and she wins prizes I just mailed, this morning, a 35 euro package of food treats to Nancy that she won by participating in my One Pound at a Time class. And remember, she’s the one who asked very honestly about how to hard boil the perfect egg several years ago, and then my "Back to Basics Cooking Class" was born. Nancy rocks.

Jim.
He’s been a fan for a long time. He sends glowing emails, and he always likes my photos. He admits that he’s deleted his inbox messages and could I PLEASE resend ASAP the recipe for lemonade concentrate because he’s having a "Lemonade Crisis."  Thanks, Jim. You’re a perfect client.

Ron.
Ron has literally been around since ‘before’ One Roast Vegetable even started. He asks for more ‘male-centered’ ideas (like how to BBQ or use his smoker). He’s also the FIRST person to ask for more vegetable-heavy recipes, and thus we have One Roast Vegetable.

Rena.
She is a rock star. She cheers loudly from the sidelines and is never hesitant to say something gushingly positive. And I mean really positive. She’s a real cheerleader. Thanks!

Now I’m sorry, I didn’t want this email to turn into a competition for who is my ‘favourite’ client … because I haven’t yet listed Brenda, Ann, Lori, Vina, Leslie, Elmira, Eva, and Joy.  And then there’s Helen and Peggy and Sandra and Katharine.  I can’t stop. Should I go on? There are lots more of you

If you’re on my Everything List, then you’re automatically included

Anyway, that’s it. No photos, nothing to sell. Just a nice end-of-day email to say Thanks. (OK I know it’s 5:45 pm Eastern, but it’s 11:45 pm in Paris, and it’s end-of-day for ME!)

love,
me

I bought some red and green plums (9 red, 5 green). The green ones are called Reine Claude in France and are apparently also known as Greengage according to Wikipedia. The green ones are pretty, but don’t taste very different from regular plums, so you could use all red if you can’t find any green. For the red ones, I used ‘prune plums’, because they are easier to de-pit (is that a word?).

My mother (by phone) warned me against making the compote using a mixture of the two colours, as she said it would result in jam the colour of ‘baby poo’ (greeny-grey?).

I decided to ignore her.  She’d say that’s nothing new.

Washing the plums in the sink.

Cut in half, and can then easily remove the pits. If you have pits that hang on for dear life, you’ll have to scrape them out.

No need to peel! Hooray!  Chop the fruit into chunks, not too small.

Put in a medium non-stick pot, and add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey. Don’t add water.

Cook over medium heat until bubbly. Then reduce heat and simmer over low heat for an additional 8-12 minutes, until the mixture is thick and you can drag a spatula through it like this:

Hmm, the colour of this looks great.  Hey Mom. I was right. Again. (How tiring it is to be my parent.)

Pour into a clean jar. Store in the fridge. Eat it within 2-3 weeks, or pop some in the freezer for a mid-winter treat.

I eat my compote on whole grain toast, and on my breakfast couscous with golden raisins.

~ All best, Shelley

Congratulations to Laurel Clark, winner of the naming contest. Cookies have been baked and will be shipped out tomorrow!

I’ve been busy today working on a logo and a registration page. First sneak-peek below:

Coming Soon …

Prestige annual pass members. An email arrives describing a new class. You don’t read it, you don’t need to. You are automatically registered. Other presents arrive — a monthly CD, a new cookbook. You never see an invoice and you never have to place an order or fill out a registration form. You’re a Prestige annual pass holder, and you move to the front of the line. You’re never concerned about sold-out classes, like the Fabulous French Desserts class or the Best-Ever Christmas Baking Class. You’re already registered. The Business Class? Limited numbers? You’re in.

After a year of learning and expanding and growing, of making meals and making money and making space, you deserve a vacation. After a glorious flight and a good night’s sleep in your hotel, you arrive in the Paris test kitchen of One Roast Vegetable, and you meet Shelley and other Prestige members. You head out to Shelley and André’s favourite café for a typical French lunch with paté, cornichons, salad with warm poached egg, French bread, and a glass of light rosé wine. It’s sunny with a light breeze, so you sit on the patio and watch the world go by.

~ all best, Shelley

But I really do need to name this pass by tomorrow, so that I can begin to sell the limited quantities next week (I’m only selling 10 passes in September).

So without further delay, here are the runners-up for the final. 

1. Gold Key Access
2. All Access Pass
3. Full Access Pass
4. 100% Access Pass
5. The Prestige Pass
6. Perfect Paris Pass
7. The Champagne Pass
8. Shelley On Demand
9. All Shelley All The Time

I need to make my final decision by tomorrow night, so if you don’t mind voting now, that’d be great : )

~ All best, Shelley

Would you like to win this delicious prize of a dozen homemade Spicy Orange Gingersnaps? You’ll need to put your thinking cap on tight. And you’ll need to vote now as I’ll pick a winner on Sunday evening.

I need a name for my new Annual VIP pass.

VIP members will pay a flat annual rate and will have access to ALL of my classes and products. Everything I offer for 12 months … all of my classes, audio CDs, the new Volume 2 cookbook.

Front of the line, guaranteed access to everything. No shipping costs. No need to register individually for new classes. They’re all yours.

And as a special bonus, all annual VIP pass holders will be invited to have dinner with me in Paris — I’ll be your tour guide AND I’ll even cook the meal.

I will be selling 10 VIP passes the first week of September.  But this all-access pass needs a name.

Some ideas so far:

• From Shelley to You – Full Access Pass
• The one-on-one pass
• Paris Shelley Pass
• The “Vegging In Paris” pass

What are your ideas?

To help improve your chances of winning, I’ll let you know that I have previously relied heavily on alliteration (Back to Basics, Kill Kitchen Klutter) but I’m not married to continuing this trend. My most recent naming was Your Business Breakthrough (thanks to Peggy Hall). The VIP pass name should be about YOU, not about ME, so I probably won’t put my name in it. The VIP pass’s name should represent the exclusivity and specialness of its members.

How’s that for a tall order!

I’m ready to put your cookies in the mail early next week. I have molasses and ginger and cinnamon and North American flour on hand. I even have an orange so I can grate the peel and toss with sugar, to coat the cookies one-by-one before they bake.

Please share your genius ideas. Deadline for entries: Sunday evening (Aug 29th).

~ all best, Shelley

OK, so here are the results of your votes to date:

** click on image to see large view **

** click on image to see large view **

So I guess we’re going to have a busy and fun year, I can’t wait! 

FULL-ACCESS to ALL CLASSES and ALL PRODUCTS for one whole year!

I’m also busy working on my new Annual VIP pass (which clearly needs a better name!). 

VIP members will pay a flat annual rate and will have access to ALL of my classes. Everything I offer for 12 months … all of my classes, audio CDs, the new Volume 2 cookbook.

Yes, VIP members will get automatic access to everything I offer for an entire year. 

And the bonus? You’re invited to have dinner with me in Paris … I’ll even cook! I will be selling 10 VIP passes in September, so stay tuned.

Yes, let’s have a contest to name the VIP pass … you can start posting your suggestions I’ll mail the winner a dozen homemade Spicy Orange Gingersnaps, handmade by me in the Paris test kitchen.

~ all best, Shelley

my favourite appetizers: feta cheese, hummus, pickled turnips, crackers, pickles, & olives …

 
Do you like our designer candle holders? The flowers were a surprise. I woke in the morning after A. had gone to work to find them on the counter, with bonne fete painted on the empty juice bottle. (Andre had hidden the flowers sans water, overnight somewhere in the apartment.)

Shelley, Bertrand, Annie, André

Bertrand, me, and Annie.  Yes, this is what 43 looks like.

~ all best, Shelley

Here’s the next two recipes:

Cappuccino Shortbread with milk chocolate on top (here’s the red ball again!).

And Chocolate Cranberry Squares:

And these pictures are taken from our street in Paris, right at the end of November when all the Christmas decorations were put up.

~ all best, Shelley

The lemon goes well:

But then something happens when I try to put the base layer of the blue on the mug.

I decide I don’t like the blue, so while it’s still wet, I get a damp paper towel and I wipe off the paint.

I add more blue / purple …

Then I take it off again.

Honestly, I’m thinking I liked it better when it was just green and white!

(My art teacher – the one who lives in California and coaches me by Skype – when he sees these images, he actually confirms my gut feelings, and he encourages me to go back to the green-and-white version with just a yellow lemon.)

~ all best, Shelley